Modern air conditioning and refrigeration systems provide cooling, ventilation, and humidity control for all or part of an enclosure such as a building, a cooler, and the like. Generally described, the refrigeration cycle includes four basic stages to provide cooling. First, a vapor refrigerant is compressed within a compressor at high pressure and heated to a high temperature. Second, the compressed vapor is cooled within a condenser by heat exchange with ambient air drawn or blown across a condenser coil by a fan and the like. Third, the liquid refrigerant is passed through an expansion device that reduces both the pressure and the temperature of the liquid refrigerant. The liquid refrigerant is then pumped within the enclosure to an evaporator. The liquid refrigerant absorbs heat by blowing or drawing air across the evaporator coil as the liquid refrigerant changes to vapor. Finally, the vapor is returned to the compressor and the cycle repeats. Various alternatives on this basic refrigeration cycle are known and also may be used herein.
Conventional walk-in coolers, such as those typically found in the food service industry and the like, generally have an evaporator therein similar to that described above. The evaporator typically is hung from the ceiling of the cooler. The evaporator thus may take up space within the cooler that could have been used for storage or other purposes. The evaporator also may present a hazard in that the evaporator may extend downward into the usual standing area so as to present a risk of injury for individuals walking therein. Likewise, a condensate drain may hang below the evaporator. The condensate drain also may take up useful storage space and itself may be an injury risk.
Typical evaporators generally also require extensive disassembly on as to repair and/or replace a component therein such as a fan and the like. Such disassembly procedures generally involves shutting down the cooler and may involve transferring all of the items stored therein. Moreover, even repairs that do not involve shutting down the cooler at least require the workman to work in the refrigerated space for an extended period of time. Repairing an existing evaporator thus may be a somewhat costly and time intensive procedure. Similarly, installing a new evaporator may be difficult given the typical weight involved and the difficulty in maneuvering in the close spaces typically found therein.
There is a therefore a desire for an improved evaporator design for use within walk-in coolers and other types of refrigeration systems. Such an improved evaporator design preferably may take up less storage space therein and create less of an injury hazard while providing easy access thereto for repair and/or replacement of the components therein.